MAJOR4 Draft

Major Assignment #4

                For the distribution of my digital media production, I went through about four different Web 2.0 spaces before settling for Facebook. I thought about Twitter, gave Stumble upon a briefing, wrote a page of notes on the benefits of Pinterest, and even got the statistics on Pasty.net.  Facebook finally won my vote because it can be tailored by location, which I will explain in a minute. Pinterest sounded great for a little while, but out of the 10 million users of the site, a very tiny percent would be located in this area, therefore the amount that that sliver would be exposed to my design would be slim.

                This is the point I turned to Facebook. According to Social Bakers, a social media analysis site, Facebook penetration in the United States is 54.19% compared to our total population, and 73.19% in relation to the number of internet users.  In just the last six months, the total number of users has grew more than 10,074,820. These numbers blow my mind, but they do make sense. For the first time, more people in the U.S. use smartphones than regular talk and text phones, meaning they have 24/7 access to the internet, as well as on computers and what not at work and home. Facebook is not only just social networking either, almost every business you go passed has a “like us on Facebook” slogan in their front window. Left and right we are being directed to the site to “like” their page to enter contests and giveaways, as well as post on their wall to be entered in this or that drawing, etc. Companies are finding every which way to lead the consumer to their Facebook page because they are smart and realizing if they aren’t in the stream of it all, they might as well be dead.

                The tactic I find most interesting is how these network sites “know” what you like, therefore advertising just that on the side bar. It’s extremely smart, but it’s almost eerie too. The fact that with one click onto some other site and they can obtain that information and use it to remind you what you are looking for.

                I’m going to upload my production onto the Business’ Facebook page. With the upload of my digital production he can get immediate attention, which is an awesome benefit over newspapers, and personal websites. Once you post information, it pops up immediately on the newsfeeds of every account that has liked your page. Even those who have somehow hinted towards their location and an interest in landscaping will have this information pop up on their advertising bar, even if they didn’t like his page yet. That’s what’s neat. The web has this way of putting two and two together, as long as he has his location and purpose defined on his page, and the other user has their location. It’s this concept that we no longer have to access information as a destination or process; instead it finds its way to you. (“Streams of Content”) There are no longer these “hard” or defined boundaries, the communication world has become interchanged and connected in many ways.

http://gigaom.com/mobile/carrier-data-confirms-it-half-of-us-now-owns-a-smartphone/

Gaming2

   A few thoughts about video-gaming post class discussion & the video clip we watched of Jane McGonigal.   I guess I somewhat understand her logic behind gaming, though I am not a gamer in the least, and generally see them as a distraction (sometimes needed, sometimes harmful to production!) I see the benefit of creativity, etc. but I do not understand her thought process behind her ideas that by playing these games will help change the world. We definitely need to instill that ambition into the players that they can be as good in real life as they are in the virtual world, but the amount of gaming per week...21 million hours? That sounds absurd to me, and I think that gaming should be kept as a limited recreational activity, not this "part time job".

"Dream Machines" - Will Wright

   Mr. Wright starts off with the quote, "The human imagination is an amazing thing." In that he is most absolutley correct. From our youngest, childhood memories, we can mostly recall an imaginary friend, or an invented game or place we would visit. I find it interesting how he describes games. He says, as we grow we play, and as we continue to grow we add rules and goals, and this is the point where a game develops. I guess I never sit to think how these basic ideas, such as games come about, but when I sit here and read this article it's neat to see that evolution described.
   Our generation, and at this point in time we have a different set of games than any other age group. We are no longer simply playing cards, or your classic board game, but rather many different types of videogames. We have controllers and cords and discs that all connect to a TV to provide this interactive game. There are shelves of different options at stores all over creation, and when you purchase one you often don't already know how to play. We learn by this cycle of hypothesis, experiment, and analysis. We dive head first and learn on the fly.
   As video games have become so popular, and i will admit I am not a part of that hobby, but I see what Wright means when he points out how the older generations see it as such a bad thing. They are violent, addictive, and childish, but they are not the ones holding that controller and thinking through the game, and strategizing. He compares this to a movie theater. If you were simply watching the people watch the movie, without watching the movie, you would think it was so bad for causing people to become tired, or to binge eat on excessive amounts of junkfood, but you aren't in there experiencing the movie with your own senses.

It's no longer about push; it's about pull.

    In the article "streams of content" they are talking a lot about the means of information, and how we are receiving it these days. As my title foretells, we are no longer on the search for information, and going through these processes to access the info, with technology like twitter & Facebook, info is coming to us 24 hours a day, without the user actually going out & digging for info.
 They list four core issues of this flow through social media:
1.) Democratization: The model has been switched from distribution to attention, but because we are moving to a state where anyone has ability to get info that is out there in the "stream", doesn't mean that the attention of these people will be diverted

2.) Stimulation: People absorb the content that stimulates their senses. Anything that creates an emotional response & can excite, anger, or entertain. Same as how our bodies gravitate towards eating fat & sugars which causes obesity, on the internet we lean towards violence, gossip, or gross content which is humiliating, embarassing or offensive. And I find this a really neat analogy; "If we don't be careful, we're going to develop the psychological equivalent of obesity." And we all know where our culture & obesity stand at this point in time.

3.) Homophily: People connect to others like themselves. Various dating sites (Christian Mingle, etc.), the information they share on their FB pages, such as biblical quotes, certain movies/music, etc...

4.) Power: Power is at stake as far as a centralized source of information. We give power to people when we give them our attention & people gain power when they bridge between different worlds & decide what info will flow btwn 2 networks. Those who control which information goes where in today's networks get more credit than the actual TV producers, or record labels themselves.

Peer Review #2

Julia
Argument: Science proves astrology wrong
Strength: A lot of information, appealing to look at
Development: break up the big chunks of information to make it a little easier to read

Meredith
Argument: Photos are edited so much we don't even realize when we look at them how much they are fixed
Strength: Good photos, the first one shows a big difference of edits they really would make these days
Development: Add text to make a larger point.

Olive
Argument: Variety of images that represent each state, encourages you to see the diversity in our country
Strength: Looks really neat, images are good quality and interesting
Development: a few of the areas could use a small border, or in tight areas contrast the photos more

Kim
Argument: Selling UP unique products
Strength: Website has a easy going flow to it, different links and the slideshow of products. LOVE the background!
Development: check out the white space. Add a slogan of what is sold on the main page. (under title)

Katelyn
Argument: How a candidates image is gained during election
Strength: details I would've never know (makeup artist), interesting information
Development: I would probably connect the heads to the rest of the body to make them look a little more ligit, even though it may look like a bobble-head!


Courtney
Argument: To challenge yourself and write a novel this month
Strength: Easy to read, clear information. I like the font choices
Development: I don't mind the no-pictures, but maybe close up some of the blank space so it doesn't look like its waiting for something

Devin
Argument: Getting your meals off campus is less expensive, and better tasting
Strength: tumblr page is well laid out, well explained, well supported
Development: the graphs may help make info stand out, if readers didn't pick up on it in the paragraphs.

Sister's Blog
Argument: A space for the sister to share her thoughts
Strength: like the background, fun to look at
Development: can't read the title 

Jane
Argument: How today's technology can affect us both negatively & positively
Strength: easy to follow, straightforward
Development: some of the words that fuzz before disappearing was making my eyes hurt!

Constructive Criticism for Classmates

SARAH:
  1.) Major Argument: I think the major argument is trying to develop an identity for the Vocal Accord group on campus.
   2.) Strength: She has good skills, the logos don't look "homeade", they have a lot of potential
   3.) Develop: I really like the second one, I do think the colors need to be picked wisely or it will be hard to follow with the lines, etc.

CHARLIE:
   1.) Major argument: Recruiting for club indigo. Argument is that there is food, entertainment & social interaction
   2.)Strength: I like the layout of the slides, the variation in transitions
   3.)Develop: Definitely add pictures, will add a lot to the presentation

THIRD:
   1.) Major Argument: To show you the effects of the economy & the personal consequences of music piracy
   2.) Strength: The information is good, the colors are clear
   3.) Develop: The layout could use a little bit so it is easier to read. My head was spinning a little trying to decide what to read first
 
CASSANDRA:
   1.) Major Argument: To show you what goes on in "Greek Life", and all the opportunities you can get
   2.) Strength: The information is short & concise, but it fits everything in
   3.) Develop: clear up some of the fonts/colors, it gets distracting
 

Issues with this Project

   At the beginning of this week I was overwhelmed beyond compare. I had a topic that I was passionate about, but not a word from anywhere was coming to me and I couldn't think of a solid production idea to save my life. On Tuesday, after too many wasted weeks I had enough and changed my topic. I am now going to design advertising materials for my uncle Ben's shop, Halonen Lawn & Landscaping. If all goes as planned, it will work good because he is in need of an advertising solution, but doesn't have the time himself to start designing materials.
   Even still, I take so long for every step, which usually happens to me. I sit and think forever and at the last minute everything clicks together & the project evolves. I am going to try hard to stay ahead of the curve this time but my ideas are changing every few minutes so we shall see!

Statement of Purpose

    I want to design advertising materials for my uncle’s business, Halonen Lawn & Landscaping, using digital media mediums as well as a digital media production itself

   The audience for my project starts with first-marrieds who own their first home, all the way up to senior citizens who still care for their own lawns. I want to be able to catch anyone who has a lawn to tend, trees to plant, or landscaping they want to spruce up their land.

   The context of some projects is simply to inform, which I would like to include in mine as well, but his business has been around for about 10 years now, so at this point I am going to focus mostly on informing customers of specific landscaping projects HL&L can do for them.

   I plan on creating a Prezi presentation, just to tie everything together in one place. I’m going to use photoshop and other accessible programs to create a small handout that Ben would like to slip in specific mailboxes as he is out on jobs in subdivisions, towns, etc around here. Many people way over estimate the cost of some basic landscaping duties so we figured this would be a good way to get the bug in their ear that it is a very doable feat. Overall, I just want to make a few different advertising materials that he can have around to inform potential customers anywhere he is. Sort of like an quick and easy quote on-the-go! 

Rhetorical Research

2. Should We Have a Pond on Campus?

An engineering senior design group would like the campus community's opinion on whether or not to put a pond on campus. The project is handling the rainwater that falls on campus in a more natural way. The design team thinks that this could be a possible solution but would like input from members of the community. To give your input, see this short survey. - - - - -First argument about the parking issues. Need to figure out some solution for commuters before building a pond on campus

Wysocki-Lynch; Chapter 3

   In chapters 1 & 2,  we learned the basic steps for a rhetorical process, while in chapter 3 here we are looking farther into the details. As stated in the reading, "we consider the possibility of having conflicting purposes for communicating, or layers of purpose." They also encourage you to think through all the details that affect the communication choices we make.
   This reading comes at a good time, while we are in the middle of our major assignment, and thinking of a statement of purpose. They offer a few suggestions including collecting examples of literature to influence the age group and follow up by testing the effectiveness. Develop a statement of purpose and a design plan which could be a print out, video or game. Finally, choose a topic that you are passionate about. This will automatically increase the output of the project.
   One of my personal favorite topics of this paper is the second major point of of chapter three. They point out how arguing is a social activity. The point of arguing, they claim is to affect people somehow, through shaping their experience, influencing their attitudes, or inviting them to consider an issue with you. My friends and I, as i believe I have previously stated somewhere in this blog, grew up arguing. We argue about everything under the sun, no matter if it has anything to do with our own lives or not. Of all the people I know, no one gets as much as a kick out of arguing as we do. I don't know what it is, but there really is some kind of social tie. No matter what you are trying to convince the other side to change their opinion.
   Another interesting point is how communication is composed. When people are thinking rhetorically  is when posters, photographs, essays...all kinds of things are made. Each item is composed when the person is thinking about their work, in context for a certain audience, and a certain type of communication explicitly aimed at a particular audience.

Wysocki-Lynch

   This reading proved not to be too bad, compared to my judgement at first glance. It talks about variations of arguments. It can be two or more people going head to head with raised voices, or it could be a formal debate over a designated topic. There are two different types; formal & informal. Every one of us has used these throughout our years, formal mostly in school settings, and informal in social or home settings.
   I find the following information interesting. They chose 7 things that are important aspects of an argument:
       1. Need a specific purpose: carefully think what you are doing and why
       2. The audience: how are you going to direct your points to influence your specific audience
       3. Larger context: think about when and where you are holding the meeting
       4. Communication strategies: come after specific purpose, audience, and context. Key in making a difference
       5. Medium of communication: use best possible medium to get the point accross
       6. Arrange & combine communication strategies to build the most persuasive presentation
       7. Test your communication. Try presentation out beforehand to see the response

"Copying is a crime of ethics"

   I found the article written by Megan J. Forness, a Rochester, IL high school student quite interesting. In her piece, she clears up a lot of unanswered questions, or even parts of the whole copyright issue that we never fully understood, or realized we were missing in the past. As my post title says, copying truly is a crime of ethics. We could very easily take an entire paragraph or two off some internet source, and switch up 3 words throughout the whole thing, but is that really gratifying to so bluntly use another's work?
   The Copyright Act of 1976 is a legitimate federal law that, "promotes the Progress of Science and sueful Arts, by securing for limited times to Authors and Inventors the exclusive rights to their respective Writings and Discoveries." With the massive growth of so many different types of media, copyright infringement issues are plentiful and happen often.
   As Forness so beneficially educates us, copyright is in any of the following types of media;
1. literary works
2. music
3. drama works, including music
4. choreography
5. pictoral and graphics
6. motion pictures
7. sound recordings
8. architecture

   You can, and are recommended to obtain a copyright notice, but after March 1, 1989, works published are all automatically protected under copyright.
   
   It really is an interesting issue, with so many ports of information, and soooo many users of all 8 versions, policing copyright infringement would be an extremely daunting task. I think one of the largest influences, as I experienced myself was elementary teachers pressing the issue the most. We grew up "cite, cite, citing" our papers, or any work we did that required using outside information. We were threatened with consequences I'm not so sure are really in effect, but nonetheless it became habit, and is now second nature.

Bitzer's Rhetorical Situation

     I've made my way through the majority of Bitzer's piece and I will admit I am struggling to departmentalize the different angles of rhetoric he is talking about.

     According to Bitzer, every rhetorical situation is made up of three parts;
            1. exigence: a defect, obstacle, something waiting to be done. In almost any sort of context, there will        be numerous exigences but not all are elements of a rhetorical situation are rhetorical exigences (natural disaster, death...)
            2. audience: to be constrained in decision and action
            3. constraints: influence the rhetoric and can be brought to bear upon the audience
      I sort of but don't really understand this article at all.
      I found one part particularly interesting because of how true it is. He states, "Each reader probably can recall a specific time and place when there was opportunity to speak on some urgent matter, and after the opportunity was gone he created in private thought the speech he should have uttered earlier in the situation."
      If that isn't true I don't know what is. From my own experience, no matter how much I prepared for a speech or presentation of any kind, I have left every single one feeling disappointed that I left out one of my "killer" points.

Post-William's Thoughts

   Following Tuesday's discussion about the William's reading I had a lot of thoughts, which usually happens after a long discussion or reading about modern technology. I don't know if I would blame it on my deep-rooted love of tradition or my inner hoarder, but some technological advances completely trip me up. Case in point; voting centers switching from paper ballots to electronic voting systems. First off, I hate the lack of a paper trail. Not only does it allow for the possibility that voting precincts will be tempted to commit fraud, but the whole reliance on technology alone makes me nervous. Systems go down, information gets lost, and machines get hacked on a regular basis. I understand this is more efficient, no need for recount, yada, yada, but I still believe we should have a backup in some version or another just to make sure. It may not be a feasible thought just because it would take so much time, with around 230,782,870 voters. (2008 presidential election). 

http://www.tcag.com/connect/consider-this/governance/electronic-voting

http://www.presidency.ucsb.edu/data/turnout.php

ACCESS- -Blackmon

In his reading, Blackmon describes access with four key words that can help us define this term in Assignment #2;

     1. MATERIAL: physical ability
     2. COMPETENCE: know-how, understanding
     3. COMFORT: no anxiety
     4. CONFIDENCE: know you can accomplish

Assignment #2 DRAFT

“A high-speed internet connection is a modern lifeline to quality jobs, information, and vital services ranging from interactive telemedicine to high education”. (Broadband in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 2011) This is one of the truest statements written about today’s day and age, and our strong reliance on being connected to the world via the internet. As I noted in my blog post a few weeks back, we can obtain access to the internet in almost every public place we go; Wal-Mart, McDonald’s, the local tire shop, Starbuck’s, etc. but there are still people in certain areas that cannot get internet in their own homes. One noted location is the Upper Peninsula, a gorgeous 16,452 square mile section of Michigan, that of which is approximately 1/3 of the state. (University, 2011) Much of this part does have the privilege of internet connection, but 20,229 are still without the luxury. (Broadband in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan, 2011)

            An astounding amount of our everyday life revolves around access to the World Wide Web. We sign into our e-mail in the morning to check for any last minute work meetings planned for the day, submit assignments on class websites, pay tuition, and keep in touch with long distance friends and family. It’s hard to believe we are still facing the unbelievable challenge of enabling internet to anybody who wishes to purchase the service. Expanding access to broadband technology is the main focus of a recent program executed in the U.P. referred to as “Connect Michigan”. This program has instilled federal dollars to install the main infrastructure to outspread broadband connection to rural areas. Their next step is to push internet providers to bring their services to these new structures in more rural areas. This advancement would help a large amount of people in many, many counties throughout the Keweenaw. The majority of the counties in the area are in the high seventies to medium eighties in the availability of broadband service category. (Cole, 2012)  Houghton County has the highest household density at 13.63 and the percentage of households with broadband availability in this zone is only at 78.39%. With the amount of businesses, both small and large, homes, and schools including two colleges, this percentage needs to increase as soon as humanly possible. Connect Michigan is the ring leader behind all of the broadband mapping and laying out in the entire state, but in these past few years they have poured all of their focus into developing the U.P.

       The Upper Peninsula is filled with small towns and each small town has their fair share of small, local businesses. The largest town is in fact Marquette, with a population of 21,335 (Marquette) compared to the largest town in lower Michigan, Detroit, at a population of 713,777. 

Can't Get Enough

The season change up here is absolutely gorgeous! I grew up downstate & would travel up here multiple times a year, but had always ended up missed the autumn up here being that its only a couple weeks long. To say the least, we had been taking advantage of the beautiful weather & sights until the snow rolled through and chilled it right up.

Literacy & Computer Literacy- Kate Williams

At the beginning of the reading I was a big foggy as to what the major point they were trying to instill was. There were definitions being tossed around and some interesting points about computer literacy, such as the fact that every public library in the united states provides internet access to its patrons, and also shows them how to use the web. Also, according to Williams, "six of ten American homes" have internet but then again this was back in 2003. At this point in time, internet has reached almost every home. One of the big questions William's asks is, "As a nation, what are we teaching when we teach computers? Should we teach? What is computer literacy?"
       The authors from the report, Being Fluent with Information Technology discuss computer literacy and explain how literacy is a broad term and too "modest" of a goal. To be able to adapt to the frequent changes individuals need to learn the basic skills. From here, with every new change the ability to adapt is a lot easier then starting fresh.
       One of the points she made that I really connected to was how some technical computer skills and software types are not always interchangeable. She showcased engineers & lawyers. A lawyer isn't going to find use in a CAD design program, same as an engineer would find no benefit in having a legal database. I see this clearly in the internship I had the past two summers. There were about 15 college level interns throughout the company, and we each used very different computer programs. Every day I would fire up my Photoshop and Adobe Fireworks photo editing programs while Erik, a ME intern two doors down was building a different type of image on his CAD program, and Gavin, who was part of IT, a few desks down from Erik was tinkering away at his "Vipre" computer security program. If we switched computers none of us would know where to begin on each job-specific software program, but we could easily navigate the programs like Microsoft Word, Excel, and itunes that we have been using for years.

Blackmon's (Cyber)Conspiracy Theories

Within the first page I found some really interesting points in Blackmon's reading. One of her first big points is that the internet is complete with "cyber humans". A cyber human, as she described is a, "raceless, classless, sexless person in the virtual world." I find this completely false and unobtainable. She says that in order to achieve this status students need to become raceless in the real-world. They must ignore things that conflict with their real-world race. This is, quite simply, absurd to try and comprehend. We can ignore our individual race, but we can never ever become "raceless". 

   Some of her points make sense, especially when she speaks at the beginning of how important computers and access to the web are in this day and time. It's true, the availability of this technology is not only important in terms of future education, but also for future employment. A huge negative for a candidate would be the inability to make way on the internet, and with basic technology. 

   I just think it's a bit excessive how much she talks about African American's being misrepresented on the internet. I understand that many may not have access at home, but there are public libraries in every single city, as well as connection at schools. Because there may be more whites in a certain area then blacks, doesn't mean the ratio isn't similar. There is a huge amount of whites without connection in their own homes. Many of these kids don't get the latest laptop, cell phone, or tablet, just the same as other less fortunate races. Sure, some do but there are quite a bit that are just floating along in the "average" column. Going to their local library an evening here and there to get online, or using their time at school. 

   In my own home growing up, we were far from trendsetters in the technology area. We had dial-up connection that was so impossibly slow that my mom was the only one with e-mail because it couldn't handle more than that. I remember my first Juno e-mail account, then AOL, Yahoo, and finally Hotmail. My parents have yet to graduate to Wi-Fi, so back at home, there they are with one computer and 10 internet hungry users antsy for their turn to tune in. 

Dove Evolution of Beauty Campaign; DRAFT

DIGITAL MEDIA ARTIFACT; DOVE EVOLUTION OF BEAUTY CAMPAIGN

The digital media artifact I chose to analyze is a video I saw on YouTube by the beauty brand, Dove. In 2004 they launched this campaign they call the Dove Campaign for Real Beauty. Their goal is to encourage confidence and self-esteem in women, instead of anxiety in the way many get about their looks. Currently, 80 percent of women in the U.S. are dissatisfied with their appearance, and more than 10 million are suffering from eating disorders. Also posted in this article, according to Teen Magazine, 50 to 70 percent of normal-weight girls think they are overweight. (Carolyn Coker Ross, 2012) Dove found these statistics sickening and decided to start a movement towards inspiring women.

            This video can be defined as digital media because this type of media refers to audio, video, and photo content that has been digitally compressed (encoded). After digital media is encoded, it can be easily manipulated, shared and played by computers and over networks. This video campaign, created by Dove is posted on YouTube, and plays in the commercial slot before you can view your desired video content. This is the way I was first exposed to this interesting campaign, but soon after in my photography class, our teacher had inserted a link to this video on YouTube into her lecture slides so she could show us as we came up upon the subject in the lecture. You can see in these types of examples how quickly and easily information can spread in digital format.

            I think Dove had a really interesting point in creating their Evolution of Beauty Campaign. The statistics around about women and their body image in society today is at unheard of levels compared to years in the past. According to an interesting piece I found online, 25 years ago, the average model weighed only 8 percent less than the average American woman. Today, models are weighing in around 23 percent less than the average woman. (Barnard/Columbia, 1992) These facts started hitting home and Dove got together and made a pact to use real women instead of professional models for their advertising needs. Their work really stood out  because that is something you do not see. With their point blank evolution of beauty video they wanted one thing, and that was to drive home the point that every image you see in magazines, billboards, and commercials is photo shopped to achieve higher cheekbones, fuller lips, gorgeous hair, etc. and here we are revolving our expectations on these images of woman in shapes that are completely unrealistic.  

            This video is all over YouTube, and is quite popular because this whole Photoshop and re-touching controversy is so big these days. Not only will it be the commercial you have to watch before watching your chosen video, you can often see a small shot of it on the recommended videos to the right of the streaming video. You do not have to have any type of account on YouTube to view this, you can be a basic browser and run into it as well. You simply have to have some type of device to get on the internet, and an internet connection and you have the opportunity to see this video.

            I think it’s interesting how this video is only on YouTube, and that is probably the most digitized site you could be on. It’s full of digital images and video clips, and everything else in the digital media world. The site itself is exceptionally easy to use, and easily accessible to anyone with interest. 

Latest and Greatest

      Really quick before I get to my point, this reading came a good time. After fighting through pages of Boudrillard it felt strange to actually absorb, and dare I admit, enjoy this reading. The photographs on every other page may or may not have had a part in that.
      Anyway, I had so many little stories that went along with almost every little "chapter" I read, so I will just highlight a few. Around the middle he talks about how time and space have vanished, and we live in a global village. We have so called, shifted from action to reaction. I am part of a very dynamic and opinionated group of friends. We have been close knit since our crawling days, so needless to say not a single person is shy to share whatever they think at any time. We are known to break into heated arguments at the most random times in the most random of places. An example; a few girls were taught growing up to fold the laundry as it is coming out of the washer, then place in coordinating piles. The rest of the crew tossed all the dried clothes in a basket, then proceeded to fold. Not a soul is going to back down from the fight, so needless to say this lasted forever. I was reminded of the second instance when I read the segment about this "global village" we are living in. We find ourselves arguing more often then not about whether or not digital media has gone too far. There are all kinds of inventions like the camera glasses, programs and apps to control your electricity from afar.. etc. Like anywhere else, each friend has their own take on technology. Some grew up with the latest and greatest items as kids, using new technology before the rest of the crew even knew how to pronounce the name, where others are still toying around on their first generation ipod nano that was recently bought off a friend. We've yet to come to a decent conclusion on this topic, but we all seem to agree that it can be a little nerve-racking if you think too deep about how far we have come, and how far advanced we can go. Things like picking out groceries online, and simply opening the front door to find them there shortly after. It seems that people will become more and more secluded than it seems we are.        You take a walk around campus and at least every other person you pass is texting, and the next one is skyping his mom in Minnesota, flashing his phone around showing her the new doors of the Van Pelt library! Anyway, as good and neat and make-everything-faster as new technology is, I feel like we probably could swing a quick breather here and enjoy what we have for a few days. Before the next iphone is blasting across my internet page.

Coincidence

As I was scrolling through my Pinterest page on a "quick" McLuhan break, I came across this photo. Reminds me of the parts of the media we have been looking at in class. You need to check your sources for information. You cannot believe everything you are exposed to! 

Interesting Find

I cracked into "The Medium is the Massage" tonight, and admittedly, after a few pages I turned to Wiki to get a quick bit of info on what I getting into. I found a little piece I found neat, since I was wondering myself what the title even meant. Supposedly, "massage" was a typo, meant in fact to read "message". When the wrongly typed books came back from the print shop, McLuhan said, "keep it!". He thought it worked with the story, and they picked out four different meanings for the title. It could read message, mess age, massage, or mass age! I think this is neat because each of the four works well for the book!

Baudrillard and Disneyland

           As warned, Baudrillard's reading was definitely not a breeze. I did pick up on more than I imagined which probably means it is completley different than the point meant to be understood. Anyway, for starters his points were interesting about dissimulating and simulating. Simulating is feigning to have what you don't, whereas dissimulating is to fake not to have what you do have. An example he gives is when illnesses are simulated. The person cannot be treated as ill, which prescriptions if he/she isn't, nor can they be left untreated if they really are sick.
           This part caught my eye because I knew a lady growing up who had a different type of illness everytime you saw her. Her children tended to as well, and were always confined at home as to "get healthy" which was sad because I'm sure they didn't have half the things they had grown to believe. The mother would travel all over to get her self-diagnosed illnesses examined. At one point she even had breast cancer. This case is a little extreme, but obviously the doctors need to look into the things she would go to them with, in case she or her children really did have that certain illness.
           The segment about Disneyland was interesting as well. It made sense because when you are inside the park, you are completely lost in the fantasy of it all. Everything about it is so built up and surreal you become lost in absorbing it all. The part I didn't so much agree with is when he mentions that Disneyland is "presented as imaginary to make us believe that the rest is real." He says that Los Angeles and the rest of America are no longer real. I don't understand this quote, nor do I agree that we are a simulation.

Response to Lisa Gitelman's, "Always, ALready New"

In Lisa Gitelman's article this week, she states some interesting points about the Internet and new media. She focuses on the history of the World Wide Web, "the largest document ever written", and the effects we see today of this "new" art. Today, the entire society is on the internet 24/7. We can obtain access to the WWW literally everywhere we go. School, home, Walmart, McDonald's, the library, the tire shop, etc. This is efficient for things like checking emails, getting directions, googling store hours and all sorts of things, but there are some worries about the internet in the long run, and the credentials of it for more scholarly uses.
    We rely on the internet so heavily, and need to remember to check into sources before claiming its the truth. News can be posted on a public webpage in a matter of seconds after the event, even during an event and will be seen by hundreds or thousands of people within the first few minutes. This makes me nervous to trust everything I see because it older types of media such as newspapers and magazines news artifacts go through multiple overviews and edits before being exposed to the world, therefore we don't see that news until a day or two after the event actually happens. This method isn't as quick obviously but tends to offers more reliable artifacts.
   Another interesting and important factor of the internet that Gitelman writes about is Error 404, and the amount we are seeing it when trying to select a hyperlink that is outdated. I find this really interesting because writings that are cited by internet pages, that only last " an average of 45 days" have a strong likelihood of losing credibility though the source may be one hundred percent legitimate. A quote in her article from Cerruzi says, "it's still too early to tell" about these factors of the internet, but, "with the persistence of Error 404 we may already be too late".

Response to, "As We May Think"

Vannevar Bush had many interesting, note worthy points in his article, "As We May Think". He did a good job discussing the ties between technology and science, and the outcome of too much interference with the world. He states that scientific involvement that is too heavy could very well lead to destruction.
   It was very interesting how on key he was about the technological inventions of the future, which are the items we use today. He talked about the camera and how much faster and automatic they will become. He states how they will soon be able to adjust exposure automatically, take photos in full color, and be able to print thousands of copies of the same photo if so desired. In words from Bush, "The world has arrived at an age of cheap complex devices of great reliability; and something is bound to come of it".
    One point I find especially interesting because you can understand how it would sound absolutely lucrative to readers at that point in time is, "The Encyclopedia Britannica could be reduced to the volume of a matchbox." And to show for this we have USB drives in every pocket, backpack, and purse of people all over the world. It is the most efficient, quick and easy way to store and carry information from destination to destination.
     Science has made our lives faster, easier, and more clear in many ways, but we must understand that to keep this up it much be updated and fixed on a periodic basis or we will fail. At this we ask the question, "Has science wedged in to our lives too far/"

Why I Blog?

                I believe that blogging is a form of writing that people either love or they hate. Sullivan explains in precise manner, “it is the spontaneous expression of instant thought”, and “the deadline is always now.” Blogging is directly in the moment, and records information as it comes in, much different than reporters who must wait until every single source is confirmed, and the information included is exactly correct.  For the “type A” perfectionist, blogging most likely won’t be the mode they turn to most often. They would rather send their writing through editors, making sure every word, every punctuation, and every indent is exactly where it should be.  On the other hand we have the “free form” personality that runs on adrenaline, chasing the risk of error in blogging and doing their best work on pieces constructed in the moment.

                I like the fact that information reaches any available reader the minute it is posted. In this day, with the massive extent of fast technology we have come to rely on everything we could ever need at our fingertips the second we need it. Blogging definitely fits the bill, provided information we interested in quickly and often. This could be a dramatic downfall for situations including misspellings and other grammatical errors, because hundreds or thousands of readers have easily been exposed to the error before you edit and re-post. In print articles, feedback often hits the editor before the author receives it which offers a pillow to the author to avoid direct heat whereas in blogging, the author will openly receive the information, good or bad, through email or the comments section of the blog.

                A final point I find important is the fact that if bloggers stop moving, they will sink. Through personal experience with blogs, I would follow bloggers who would lack posts for weeks at a time. The ones that posted daily were the only ones I stuck to following. If you want followers to stay, it is imperative to post frequently to keep them attached.

                

WELCOME

Welcome to my blog, Twenty One Dreams. Throughout my time in digital media I will be posting on my daily happenings, ideas and experience here at Michigan Tech.  Feel free to leave any questions or comments in the comments section following each post. Thanks for visiting!